Ok so this is the norm here, so I posting to say thanks for the tip, it is still working in 2012 :)

Thank you from the future !!!

Thanks. I am from six years later.

The response from macemoneta (#2) helped me too. Thank you!

thanks from 2012

I registered just to say.. Thanks dude!

I'm from 2 days before the end of the world :D

The world is not over.
Thanks from 2013

Thanks
 

It's the future here, and I want to thank you for this, it's awesome.

Thanks!
 

keeping up traditions 7 years later

One more thank from the furture here.

I just registered to tell you tnx! 7 years and 7 days later this was just what I was needed.

an other thing you can do, 7 years later, is to create a config file in your ~/.ssh/ directory along these lines:

this way when you ssh user@my_url.com you do not need to pass the -p flag at all, this includes your rsync.

Hey! From July 2013 - thanks macemoneta - still working :)

(and rsync still does not have a more expedite way!
Also thanks lleb for the tip. Very good.

(I hate to register in forums... this is an exception for tradition sake only!)

Here from seven years later to give thanks for all contributors, and to add my little coin:

To use rsync using a key:

rsync -av --progress --inplace --rsh='ssh -p8023 -i /somepath/private.key' somefile user@host:somedir/

check out my sig on the HOW TO create a config file for your ssh. This way you can rsync -<options> user@server without having to worry about quoting and ports ext...

thanks